Music Makers 4 by Overseas School of Colombo
 

Oblivious to the scorching sun, on a platform set in the school grounds; a group of fresh-faced youngsters of varying ethnicities comes together in the name of music.

They are completely immersed in their respective instruments, concentrating on the notes before them and wait for their conductor’s signal to start the next piece. The deep vibrating staccato of the cello merges with the drum beat giving way to the leading notes of the piano and the violins as they perform ‘America’ of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.

It was a blessed sight to see the Students of Overseas School of Colombo (OSC) rehearsing for the upcoming music concert Music Makers 4 choreographed by Loretta Duncan, Head of Arts at the OSC.

“Music Makers is the equivalent of the summer concert and the students will be performing a variety of genres ranging from Broadway, pop, jazz to traditional Indian dance,” said Loretta who conducts the concert band and is responsible for the musical and the vocal ensembles trained by the talented music teachers of OSC.

Music Makers performed by the secondary school students of OSC will be staged on the 30 April for the 4th consecutive year at the Overseas School Auditorium.

“The idea of introducing an annual music event is to bring together children of varying attention spans and commitment levels by channeling their dynamic energy in to creativity and musical presentation, and I think we have succeeded in doing so,” Areta Williams Head of School, OSC said.

Renowned as Sri Lanka’s truly international school, and established in Colombo since 1957, The Overseas School of Colombo is also the only international school in Sri Lanka to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme from Grade 1 to 12. Alma mater to students from over 40 nationalities, OSC is devoted to develop each student as a whole person eager to learn, coexisting within a culturally diverse school.

“Music Makers was introduced as a way of pulling out the kind of music children were doing out of school to build interest at first. Now in its 4th year, Music Makers have brought together the students, parents, peers, students from other international schools and the expat community building up the musical profile of OSC as never before,” said Areta Williams who has 18 years of experience in heading international schools worldwide.

8 girls from grades 9 through 12 who will be singing in as many as 8 parts were auditioned and trained by Head of Arts at the OSC, Loretta Duncan.

“We want the 8 part harmony to blend together without having 8 individual soloists. The auditions were quite thorough where each student was given a part to sing while I sang another so that the best and the most controlled of voices were selected to be a part of ‘Voice’ the vocal group that will be performing on the 30th” Loretta said. ‘Voice’ will be performing ‘Say Something’ by Christina Aguilera featuring A Great Big World and ‘A Thousand Miles’ by Vanessa Carlton among popular duets and solo performances. A performance of Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ and a traditional Indian dance will also colour the programme of the evening.  

Loretta Duncan, who has taught and headed music since 1993 in international schools around the world will be conducting the 17 member concert band comprising mainly of woodwind and brass wind instruments and will be playing the piano in accompaniment for Music Makers 4.

Tickets are now available at Odel Flagship store – Alexandra Place, Odel Koswatte store, Overseas School Business Office and at the door.

(Article by Miuru Jayaweera)